Article Title

Author

Periodical Title

Modern Psychological Studies

Volume

15

Number

1

Page Numbers

pages 31-38

Department

Dept. of Psychology

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Date

2009

Abstract

To test the notion of urban "stimulus overload" (Milgram, 1970), this study replicates a 1977 "lost child" experiment, with a child (age 9 or 10) asking 146 New Yorkers for help. As expected: (a) The rate of New Yorkers who helped a lost child rose significantly, from 46% in 1977 to 61.6% in 2008. (b) When debriefed and told that the lost child was actually part of an experiment, only 11% of New Yorkers expressed a negative reaction, compared with 55% who reacted positively. In fact, the more helpful one's behavior, the more positive their later reaction to debriefing (r = +.67, p < .001). The implications of these findings are discussed, regarding the future methods and findings of urban psychology research.